Birmingham's Powell Elementary site could rise from ashes in new plan (with slideshow)

The burned out remains of Powell School which burned Friday, Jan. 7, 2011 is shown Sat. Jan. 8, 2011. Over the doorway to the school the name of Powell School and date of 1887 is shown.
(Birmingham News Photo / Jeff Roberts

Birmingham's oldest school building remains boarded with a fence surrounding it since a January fire nearly destroyed the 123-year-old Victorian structure. But a proposed agreement with a preservationist group could mean new life for Powell School.

A City Council committee today will discuss an agreement where the city would give the downtown building, along with seed money, to the Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation.

The Budget and Finance Committee will discuss the agreement proposed by Mayor William Bell. Under the agreement the city will provide nearly $500,000, which was received from insurance on the property, as seed money for restoration efforts.

"I can stabilize it, which gives me some time to advertise and make request for proposals," said Sam Frazier, a board member of the Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation and also chairman of Birmingham's Design Review Committee. "I've had interest from potential redevelopers."

The Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation must stabilize the structure, present a viable plan for rehabilitation and find a developer. It all must be done in six months or Powell would be demolished.

In March Bell met with Frazier and agreed to hold off demolition plans to give preservationists a chance to save Powell.

"We do have a time frame that will allow them an opportunity to make every effort possible to save it," Bell said. "They'll be able to utilize those funds once they can show a proper plan showing that the building can be saved. It's going to take much more money than that and if they can't raise additional money, then the funds will be used to take the building down."

Prospects for the school were dim following the report filled with images of the collapsed roof and crumpled wooden interior, concluding that the fire-ravaged school should be demolished.

The fire consumed the roof and gutted much of the school building's interior, including the third floor. But Frazier was among the first to join the movement to save the building, citing his own analysis that showed it to be salvageable.

Frazier compared the school to other significant Birmingham buildings, such at the Alabama Theatre, another landmark that was saved through community support for its restoration and reuse.

"It's a great building," he said. "It has a strong pull historically to this community and its also a very important building architecturally."

Frazier's experience with historic preservation is personal. His own law office in the Zinszer Building on Second Avenue North is an example of how a building set for destruction can be preserved.

The Zinszer Building is just a year younger than Powell and was renovated in the 1980s. The process of saving the exterior, where the historical walls are preserved while new construction replaced the derelict interior, is called a "gut rehab." In the end, the century-old, historically-significant building was saved, complete with a brand new interior.

While some of the rules have changed regarding tax credits for historic properties, Frazier said Powell School would still be able to benefit from the program that helped make the Zinszer restoration feasible.

Councilman Johnathan Austin, whose district includes Powell, lauded the potential partnership to save the school, still recognizing that the endeavor would be massive and expensive.

Powell was built in 1887 and remained in use for more than a century. The school closed in 2003 and sat dormant in the middle of major redevelopment, including Park Place.

"It means a lot to generations of people. With us having this proposal, this is the first step in trying to save the school," Austin said. "I'm cautiously optimistic that we will be able to save it."